Wednesday, 31 December 2014

We shot into town this morning to pick up things that didn't arrive on our monthly shop delivery. Then back home for a quick lunch of cheese on toast. We nearly always take our decorations down before the New Year.

An hour or so later, that was done. Whilst we were both huffing and puffing, we also swapped our furniture around. We do this at the beginning of each month to enable fair wear and tear as we prefer to sit on the same side of the room most of the time.

A quiet evening will be had by us. Fireworks and church bells will herald in 2015, so no point in retiring before then.

Soon, providing DS can get a couple of extra days off, we shall expect them all to celebrate a belated Christmas as well as his birthday.

Tuesday, 30 December 2014

DS and our middle Grand-dog Miss M. have just left to drive back to his fiancée's parents ready for the New Year. We shall see them for his birthday soon, to celebrate both his birthday and have our Christmas. It seems so strange not opening presents until then but I believe Russia doesn't celebrate Christmas until January 7th, so we won't be far off!

Herewith our final picture of Miss M., fast asleep in her bed in front of the wood burner. She has her fleece on as we had just come back from a walk and she had had her legs hosed down:

We have just had a quick lunch as I have a massage this afternoon, followed by our monthly delivery from the supermarket. I was shocked at the price, despite it only being a 3 week shop with only a few extra's for when our visitors come down, it was nearly £15 more than usual - shocking.

DB has done the first clear up after visitors and is running the vacuum around as I type! Tomorrow we shall have our first quick, early morning visit to the 'big' shops, then get all our decorations down. We don't tend to take them into the New Year unless we have visitors coming.

The final menu for 2014 has gone onto the Menu tab at the top. I shall begin a new page for 2015. Our meat entitlement under rations has and will be over the limit sometime in the next few weeks due to visitors coming and going. Then it will return to normal.

If I don't do a post until then, we both hope you all have a lovely time over the New Year if you are celebrating and that 2015 is a good year for you all.

Monday, 29 December 2014

DS and Little Miss M have popped over for a day or so. Off to Old Hunstanton this morning to let us all have some sea air. The sky was a lovely blue, deeper than of late, with just a few wisps of clouds.

Herewith the photographs, not too many as despite it being sunny, the wind was bitingly cold:

Miss M trying hard not to fully sit on the cold sand!

A couple getting ready for kite/beach? surfing

Father and son plus their little shadow who spent the first 10 minutes or so, once I had taken photographs, encircling us, presumably keeping us all together:

Other than the sea which was quite a way out, we finally found a deep area of water for M. to swim in. She looks like she is standing but her legs are working furiously under the water:

Just as we neared the lifeboat station, we heard the hovercraft start up. Thinking there was a 'shout' we hurried to have a look but they were just testing it.

Miss M with fleece and towel on, drying out after having her legs hosed down outside.

Heating went on, as did soup and the kettle. Within 20 minutes we were warmer and settling down to some Celery and White Stilton soup, bread and crackers. DS has gone off to a country shop warehouse place, M. is asleep in her basket which has been dragged in front of the lit wood burner and we are settling down for the afternoon.

Sunday, 28 December 2014

They look different to the last lot even though the recipe is the same. They are a right faff to roll out between sheets of baking parchment. Normally it doesn't stick but this time it did. Had to use extra flour which was dusted off when they were cold. I only make these once or twice a year as gifts.

Still, they are healthy, full of things that dogs can eat. There are loads of recipes for dog biscuits/treats on the web but the one I use and have adapted is this:

Mix all the dry ingredients together then add the stock. Use as much of the egg as required to bring it all together. Do not make it sticky or it is near impossible to roll out.

Roll between two sheets of baking parchment, until the thickness of a coin. Cut into shapes. Place on a tray with silicone paper on it and bake at 180C for 20 - 25 minutes. Switch the oven off and leave them in it with the door open to allow them to fully dry out.

Once cold, pack into an airtight container. Use within 2 weeks or keep in the fridge where they should last up to 6 weeks. Personally, I find they never last that long. Rhonda on Down to Earth blog also has a recipe for dog biscuits/treats. I like the way she rolls hers then bakes them before breaking and finishing off. Think I might try that another time.

We drove off early to catch the Hunstanton Christmas Day swim. I have posted about it on my other blog. After spending nearly an hour waiting for it to start (mind you we did buy hot chocolate and 3 doughnuts to share between us), it was over and done within 20 minutes. Obviously people didn't want to hang about in the cold!

When we got back home, we had a hot cup of tea to thaw us out and prepared our evening meal. Once that was done, we warmed up some curry soup from yesterday and had that for lunch:

Then we opened our Christmas presents from each other. Here are some second-hand books I had asked for - they should take me an age to read which is great, although the print on the bottom one is tiny - hope I can read it:

Got a few other things as well which was nice. We shall not open any more presents until we see DS and FDiL for his birthday - that will be our proper but delayed Christmas then, when we shall have some of the festive food I had prepared in advance.

We had our 'Christmas' meal in the evening:

Beef with marsala and prunes, roast potatoes and vegetables. DB didn't have the Brussels sprouts. I made up 4 meals so we can have the same for tea tonight. There was enough beef left over for us to have with DS in a few days time.

DB had a small bought Christmas Pudding and I had my previously prepared Damson Vodka Sponge Pudding, both of us had custard.

DS had telephoned in the afternoon and by the sound of things, they had had a whale of a time and he sounded relaxed and a little merry!

Hope your festive break continues to go well and that you are all having a good time. We shall go for a walk later around the village, then have a snack before I bake a dozen mince pies and make some granola for DB for breakfast tomorrow.

Wednesday, 24 December 2014

Welcome to Katie Weston via here. A lovely day has dawned in our part of Norfolk. Blue skies, streaks of different clouds scudding across the sky and a brisk wind. Cooler than of late but that is no bad thing. I keep waiting for the garden to go to sleep so I can finish cutting down the dead vegetation.

I made up Raymond Blanc's Pain De Campagne bread, the recipe for which is here
It is also on my recipe link above. I left my starter for 4 days in the end as I just couldn't find the time to make the bread. We love it, such a lovely flavour, slightly sour dough in taste and so bouncy. The only thing we do differently to his recipe is add a level teaspoon of caraway seed (measure first before grinding). This seems to intensify the sour dough flavour:

Always do mine in tins as I always worry that it will keep on growing all over the oven if I left it to its own devices. I plan to make some more for when DS and FDiL come in January.

Yesterday I managed to get some roast potatoes prepared for the freezer. You make them normally, allow to go completely cold then open freeze (forgot to do this so might be interesting when re-heating) before packing into a bag and popping in the freezer. When you need them, put them on a tray, straight from the freezer and bake at 220C for 20 - 25 minutes. That should crisp them again and be hot all the way through:

The ones at the back are for our delayed Christmas dinner (in January). The ones at the front are to go with our meals for Christmas and Boxing Day! I plan on cooking once and serving 4 meals up. Come Boxing Day, the second meal will be reheated.

Monday, 22 December 2014

We went up for the weekend to visit DS and FDiL. Another trip to the tailor was called for, for the first fitting of the suits being made for their wedding. DS was perfect and didn't need anything doing. Best man and DB needed a little more width in the chest and bottom of trouser legs adjusting. Hopefully, the final fitting is next month and nothing else needs doing then that will be those crossed off the to do list! They all look so smart, can't beat a man dressed in a lovely suit.

Our Christmas and New Year plans have fallen through but as they say, it is what it is. We are fine with it and did suggest it might need to happen. Sometimes, people need to be somewhere else far more important and both these occasions, are one of those times. Other people seem to mind on our behalf but as we already spend every other Christmas or New Year on our own, this is no different.

DS and FDiL should be with us for his birthday after Christmas. Don't think we have had him for his birthday for years so that will be lovely.

One of the things I had been sewing was for them. They have now seen it and it is already in use so now I can show it here:

Can you guess what it is? I'll tell you at the end of this post.

It took about 2 weeks to make, mainly because I kept going wrong and got cheesed off. There are 3 different sized pockets, some double material, some lined. All have a fold over top for strength. The only thing that wasn't right once in use was the weight made the tops corners turn in. Guess I should have put the outer tabs right on the corners and maybe sewing a baton into the top back.

Ah well. I would say you live and learn but I don't plan on making any more. The material was an old duvet cover out of my sewing box and the white cord for the top we already had. I needed to buy some cotton thread and some medium density iron on liner for the whole of the base but that was it.

Anyway that is it for now. We have just come back from doing a weekly shop due to pay day being so close to Christmas and we don't fancy sorting out a monthly shop. Other than 1 item to get for next week, we should not have to set foot in a shop again for many days, thank goodness. It is starting to get hectic out there.

In case you want to know what I made, it is a game controller holder for at least 4 different platforms plus their cables. It is now full so guess it was good I made it the size I did!

Friday, 19 December 2014

Just after I did my post for yesterday, the phone went and it was the hospital. Hello, we've just had a cancellation so can you come for a scan Friday morning? Nil by mouth for four hours beforehand.

Blast, another breakfast missed. As it happens, I wasn't at all hungry as I had had an uncomfortable evening and night. Doctors first thing for something else, given antibiotics, then off for an abdominal scan. Quite quick but quite uncomfortable. They said it was fine but was asked if I was getting pain at the back of my right ribs and he concentrated on that area for a while so who knows really?

All results should now go to my own doctor so hope to not hear from the hospital for a while! Anyway, have a good weekend and hope those of you with children manage to get some down time after the schools close.

Thursday, 18 December 2014

I have been feeling very nauseous since August. Went to see the doctor and he tried me on some drugs to reduce the acid thinking it might be reflux. This is my second bout, had it to a lesser degree last year. Tablets didn't work, made me feel like I had a brick in my stomach.

New government legislation dictates that if you are of a certain age and drugs don't help the symptoms then you go on a 2 week emergency list for a gastroscopy (just in case it is the start of something nasty).

Had my consultant appointment yesterday and the procedure first thing this morning. Wanted sedation as I can't swallow on command. Wasn't aware of gagging or anything. Woke up, had water, then coffee and sandwiches.

The nurse took us both into another room and said everything seemed normal, nothing nasty. Phew!

They did take 4 biopsies, the results of which should take a week. They also tested me for H. Pylori bug and that too was negative. Guess I have to wait for the biopsy results and whether they show the reason for the nausea.

Having a rest for a while then will get on with making bread later on.

Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Seemed to pass in a bit of this and a bit of that, a blur really. We both needed Chiropractor treatment and now have to drive further for that but petrol is dropping in price. Then we had to do a small food top up plus just a few drinks for the festive period.

By the time we got home, it was nearly 1:30pm so we stopped to have beans on toast! I finally remembered to re-take the few decoration pictures we did on Sunday, not too exciting. Unfortunately I managed to chop the fairy off the top of the tree:

A few things on the windowsill next to the tree:

DB's mum used to knit us all kind of people, she loved knitting. The mantelpiece:

The decorative tubes on either end were given us many years ago by some parents from school (they had wine in them). Finally, our dresser in the dining room:

Nothing much on it but we sometimes bring greenery in nearer the day. The ceiling also has things strew across it and there is a little golden artificial triangle tree on another cabinet.

We managed to get the joint of meat we were after and that is now in the freezer. The butcher de-boned it and they will first be rinsed then roasted ready for soup making.

Although we have 'invested' in 3 joints of meat for the festive 10 days, the total spent does not exceed our ration allowance each, for all of December and January. We have only spent about £5 on meat so far this month so all in all, it will work out just right. There will be quite a bit leftover for pies, curry, etc which will probably feed us through February as well. All in all, a good investment.

Monday, 15 December 2014

We spent yesterday afternoon putting up the tree plus a few other decorations. There was a time when DS was small, that almost every room was decorated including his bedroom, bathroom and the kitchen! Unfortunately, the photographs are all blurred so I shall take some more today and put them on tomorrow.

Once that was done, I made us some bread and butter pudding for desert after tea and one for the freezer. The one in the tin is for us over two nights, the bottom one in the glass bowl has gone into the freezer for visitors. I made sure I didn't over brown it so it could be heated in the oven when they come:

Normally, I make this with milk and eggs but as I bought two x 1 pint cartons of double cream for ice cream, instead of two x 1/2 pint cartons, we had a whole pint of cream to use up before it went out of date.

It was very nice and rich but wouldn't want to eat it that rich all the time. I have just updated our menu tab so that should be available for viewing very shortly.

Friday, 12 December 2014

DB has finally psyched himself up to go into the very cold attic to give it enough of a sort out so we can get the decorations down and put up this weekend - well, the tree bit at least.

I have just finished the final bit of sewing so my sewing table in the spare bedroom, can now be dismantled to get it ready for DS and FDiL when they visit:

If I never make another version of the thing I have just finished, I shall be very pleased. Seemed very easy but was far more difficult than I first though. The desk used to be my office and work space in days gone by when I was self employed.

Can't show you what I have just finished as it is for someone but have taken photographs to show you the final thing. Should be quite a bit of gift making to show you early next year! I just need to arrange to see someone to drop their little present off plus after our walking day next week, we shall exchange gifts with E. and T., so another little job done.

I made some spicy sweetcorn soup for lunch, it was a little too spicy so added some coconut powder to it, very nice addition:

Thursday, 11 December 2014

Apart from two little Christmas Eve/Boxing Day presents that DB still has to buy, we have finished all present shopping. Hoorah!

We went to town first thing to try and avoid the crowds but there was a blockage one way so had to go in another way, good job we know so many ways in! Agreeing to meet in a cafe in an hours time, we went our separate ways. I was one present short when we did meet so had to borrow just a few more pounds to complete my shopping.

Whilst DB watched the recording of The Apprentice (I can't stand it), I wrapped up all the presents I had purchased and put them away. Washing was hung on the line for a bit of a blow but with the sun already setting, it was almost but not quite, as damp as when it went out.

DB ironed the washing from the other day (yes, he does the majority of the ironing), a ham, cheese and chive quiche was made for tea:

Using up the left over pastry, I managed to make a few Maids of Honour. Didn't quite have enough ground almonds left from another cooking day, so made them up with ground rice/semolina instead. They taste just as nice but have more of a crunch - cheaper than ground almonds as well:

The jam was a little too runny to begin with so it boiled out in places. Also, didn't have my baking head on when making the pastry. Although you are not supposed to, I normally use some S.R. Flour in with the plain flour - about 1/4 of the weight required. Forgot this time and the pastry came out harder than normal but everything still tasted fine.

Wednesday, 10 December 2014

I finally finished the front of the WWII sleeveless pullover I started. The pattern was for a 34" chest, which I am not, so it has been adapted to make it larger for me. After all my adjustments, I forgot about adding a little extra to the length. It is however, meant to fit around the low part of the waist, i.e. sitting on top of the hips, so hopefully it will be okay:

If not, it doesn't matter. It is only for wearing around the house to help keep me warm!

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Yesterday I baked us our usual two loaves of weekly bread. This time it was, 'Potato' white & rye:

Made us a large onion, pepper and cheese pizza for tea:

It is currently 10am and the outside temperature is still -1C, it was quite cold last night. DS sent us a picture yesterday, of his trip to work, over the hills:

He had his winter tyres on and they were working very well apparently!

DB has just come back from his check up at the dentist. Looks like he might have some sort of infection beginning! Dentist has taken an X-Ray and will let us know what treatment he will need.

I am currently making something for DS and FDiL, hope to have it finished in the next few days, taking far longer than I anticipated. Can't show it here yet until they have seen it.

Other than that, just trying to keep warm in the room I'm sewing in. Despite it being south facing, there is no heat from the sun penetrating it at the moment. Mind you, that is probably to be expected when almost a whole wall has a double glazed window in it! However, when the sun gets out and the door is closed, it is just lovely to be in there. Shame it isn't the lounge this time of the year.

On-line Christmas shopping is done and they have almost all been delivered. Must go into town this week and both do our presents for each other. Plus we still have to do our little Christmas Eve presents yet. As DS and FDiL expect to be arriving late, we might save opening them until another day.

E-cards have just been dispatched, snail mail ones were done the other day. Again, just immediate family ones to buy.

We might think about doing the decorations at the weekend, why the weekend I don't know, habit I guess.Other than that, we are both just tootling along.

Monday, 8 December 2014

What could be a possible downside to tracing your family history and in effect, being the family historian. Well, if you are going to do it properly, you really need to invest in birth, marriage and death certificates and census information for example. Don't just sit down for an afternoon on the internet then believe you have traced your family back to the 1600's!

There are loads of family trees on a certain web site (some occasionally useful most rubbish), who have taken that quick route and have completely mish mash versions of their family history. People marrying before they have been born, people dying before they have been born, children being born 70 or 80 years apart - say what!

You will digest hopefully, a myriad of information, both good and bad, some amusing, others not so. One of the things we have both become aware of though, probably because we are ageing, is what your nearest and dearest have died of. Such information most of us will not know unless we had an early earnest compulsion for asking elderly relatives about such things. Most of the time, they often can't remember or simply do not want to discuss anything about their past. No amount of persuasion will cajole them into revealing anything if they don't wish to. Hugh amounts of misinformation also gets passed on which can be very misleading.

Anyway back to death certificates. Certificates cost money so make sure (as much as you can do), that the ones you are ordering are the correct ones. We have a relatively small collection of certificates ordered in error and it is rare indeed to find someone who wants them.

Similar to birth certificates which let you know your mother's maiden name, address etc, the death version should let you know where your relative was living when they died, their age (this wanders up and down quite a lot as some informants didn't know when a relative had been born), the name of the informant and the cause of death.

Did you know for example that if you have a relative die in the USA, you cannot buy a full version of the certificate which tells you what they died of, as you do not have a State Security Number. What a blow that was. No, you pay your money and get a certificate back without such necessary information. As it happens, the doctor of this particular relative was an oncologist (cancer doctor), and as they had suffered with bowel problems on and off all their life, guess it might have been bowel cancer that did for them.

As you go back through the generations, you build up a picture of both sides of yours and the half of your DB if doing it. Even allowing for living circumstances at the time of each person, we seem to have an awful lot of cancer, stroke and heart related deaths. Gulp!

Saturday, 6 December 2014

How do you use your central heating and the thermostat? My post yesterday generated a few responses. Thought you might be interested in this Link

First of all, our house is well insulated, it has full double glazing, cavity insulation and loft insulation. Indeed the loft also has boards down and more than one carpet on top of it all!

Last winter we went through with our thermostat set at 14C on only in the morning plus two small bursts during the day until the wood burner was lit mid afternoon. When I say bursts I mean turn on, when it cuts off, turn off again. The house rarely drops below 10-12C, even the conservatory doesn't drop below 8C.

We are at home most of the day, getting cold only if we sit down for too long. We layer up, wear fingerless mittens and if we feel the chill, warm microwave bags. It is amazing though, that if you feel really cold and go for a walk, when you come back in, the house feels hot, as do we, for quite a long time!

Yes we could have the heating on all the time as a background heat but the cost of that, plus all other bills, when living on only one pension, would make life very difficult. Our neighbour has his heating on all the time and last winter ran out and had to half fill his tank again. His heating for those few months, cost him nearly £900 plus kindling and coal for his fire. He was not a happy bunny!

Each to his own I guess. We live our lives according to the cut of our cloth, and are happy with most of our choices most of the time. We have decided though to have our thermostat set to 16C this year, 40 minutes in the morning but still two or three quick bursts as well. Those bursts keep us warm for a few hours, so for us it works. Thanks for all your comments though, got us thinking again which is always useful.

Friday, 5 December 2014

I am pleased to report this morning that my sniffles have gone away so that is very good news indeed.

This morning found us wending our way to Springfield's shopping centre at Spalding in Lincolnshire, whose details can be found here.

They have a Paver's shoe shop (despite one not showing up on their store guide) where I had purchased my daytime shoes for DS and FDiL's wedding next year. We had been waiting for them to get their new season shoes in before returning to shop for something reasonably flat and hopefully very comfortable for the dancing in the evening. I eventually found something very flat with the smallest of raised area on the heels. I normally never, ever buy shoes as I don't like them at all, preferring to wear boots or sandals. In fact I hardly buy anything for my feet except the two aforementioned and all boots and shoes stay with me for years, getting repaired where possible.

Needs must however and I bought a pair of leather shoes with a gold stitch decoration. Sandals would be inappropriate as in the evening, the dancing is in the Ceilidh style and toes may well get stepped or stomped on! So other than one small item I am almost finished. Daytime wear and evening wear all done for which I am grateful as neither myself nor DB really enjoy clothes shopping. He still has to get his shirt but we are waiting on DS to decide which type.

We also managed to get T's presents so local people are completed, one more thing to cross off our list. DS and FDiL's presents are in the post to us, just ourselves to sort out.

Some of the big supermarkets have a leg of lamb at half price so we bought one and tucked it away in the freezer along with a previously purchased piece of gammon. Meat price wise (according to our ethos of still living on war time restrictions) we have £7 left for the month of December, as until now, we hadn't bought any. I foresee lots of pies and meal combinations from that amount of meat, which will easily take us into January as well.

We got back home and despite the thermometer on the car reading 7C it was very cold. A quick burst of central heating (set to 16C) ensured a bit of warmth whilst we had a milky coffee and slice of cake. The wood burner was then lit as the sky has cleared and the temperature is now plummeting towards a minus Celsius of some kind.

We had our annual electricity statement yesterday and although we were currently on a long term contract, they informed us that we could save by switching onto another tariff. Never taking them at their word, we checked and could, so did so. The quite substantial savings will most likely get used up this winter but hey, that is better than going that amount over if we had stayed on our current tariff. Price is now fixed to April 2016.

Thursday, 4 December 2014

Been for my monthly massage, the last before Christmas. C. has been given a jar of home made Brandy and Ginger marmalade as a gift. Another one will be given to our Chiropractor N., when we both visit her next week.

Yoghurt is being made:

Wholemeal and Rye bread is done:

The last of the tomato and lentil soup has been eaten:

I have still to cook the vegetable and pork curry for tea but yesterday, my nose started running and today it is still doing so, on and off and I have a bit of a thick head. Hopefully it is not a cold starting as I don't have the usual sore throat but who knows!

Before starting on the tea, I'm posting this, then cheering myself up by having a milky coffee and piece of cake:)

Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Yesterday, we took the opportunity to go to Bury St. Edmund's, it is a lovely place to visit but we had done that on many occasions previously, and wanted to wander round the shops.

It is so nice to go to places that have different shops to those in your nearest town as well as the more artisan craft and gift shops. We came away with just one small present for E., just T. to do for local presents. We had coffee and cake in Harriet's tearoom. I don't think we spent more than a couple of hours there, as we have become quite adept at present buying, knowing which shops to visit, due to the self-imposed £3 limit by everyone.

The weather was dull with dark cloud but no rain. We had originally thought to go today but with walking later in the week, wanted a bit more of a rest after wandering, which we now both find quite tiring. Just as well as the weather is completely different to that forecast yesterday!

Today, soup is on the go, tomato and lentil. The rain is coming down and there is a very strong wind which is howling inside the wood-burner (but not escaping into the room due to its door), making it very cold outside. DB has just been out to fill up the log basket and lay the fire.

Must carry on this morning, knitting my sleeveless top. I have just about 4" to go then the front will be finished. Each afternoon, I must get on with making one more thing for DS and FDiL otherwise it will not get done. The times seems to be flying now.

First day of advent yesterday which I forgot and thought 'Santa' had as well. All was well though, came back into the front room after changing into jim jams and a gift was propped up on the settee:

I have also uploaded our last week of meals onto the menu tab at the top.

Monday, 1 December 2014

That is, the ones I am making to give to friends and family. I can't reveal what they are until after the big day as they read this blog and it would spoil the surprise for them. They are all hand made, using things that I have been saving all year especially for this purpose.

DB and I hope everyone likes them and finds them useful. I love useful things. Sometimes you buy things and the container is pretty so it gets kept. Something gets delivered and the paper/material is nice so it is put to one side. A neighbour buys a particular type of conserve, they come in a lovely jar with a nice screw cap, she now saves them for me.

We are great believers in the following:

Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
Or do without!

Most can be hand delivered but one or two need to be posted so hopefully, the Post Office charges won't be too much as they should be quite small once wrapped ready for posting. Unfortunately just checked, I was hoping they would fit a large letter but no, a small parcel. Still, considering they haven't cost too much to make, a bit of postage will make up for it!

That leaves us something to organise for our Grand-dogs (we have something in mind) and something to finish for a family member. After that, we can get on with the up close and personal presents!

My Other Blog

About Me

I am happily married to my lovely hubby DB. We have a fantastic son DS., and a lovely DDiL. We have each other, a roof over our heads, a son and DDiL who love us and who are loved in return. Who can ask for anything more!
We have a medium sized garden to grow our own summer fruit & veg & like to live as simply & healthily as possible.